The Long Way Home
by csivegasrocks
Summary: Hello! This is a story about Sara Sidle (the real Sara - not the one who is currently being written. I love the gritty and gutsy woman who gave everything for her one true love), and her undying love for her husband Gil Grissom. BTW; I'm dedicating this story to TPTB at CSI to show how GSR can be fixed. With Love and Respect.
1. Chapter 1

Take the Long Way Home

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_I don't own CSI but I do love to play with them! It's the sincerest form of flattery!_

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_OK Don't flame me! If you stick with me, I promise it will be a very romantic and sweet smut story. But there's always more to the story than what we see on television right? And to TPTB, I'm going to show you how to fix GSR. _

**CHAPTER 1**

It really had been a bad day to show up to work with a hangover. Not that there was ever a good day to be hung over, but really, she should have been able to walk away from that last beer when she knew she had to work the late shift that night.

Sara had beaten the bottle before. She knew she could do it again, but at this moment, she didn't want to.

Life had been hard. She thought she had found her happy ending, but even that had been snatched away from her. "Life's hard, move on." she would say to herself, trying to make the best of a pretty shitty situation.

But to be placed in quarantine, looking directly at her best friend across a clear plastic curtain, with only her computer to keep her mind off how crappy her life had become, really drove home the fact that changes were going to have to be made.

Even without him, it was time to move on.

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Of course, the first thing that she did when she got the computer up and running was to Google hemorrhagic fever. Yes, she thought to herself, even science nerds use the Internet to look up diseases. She understood the general concept of the disease, enough to be able to spot a potentially contagious situation before it became an outbreak. Even so, how a possible diagnosis of hemorrhagic fever might impact her life, was a completely new concept to digest.

The National Institute of Health was always a great place to start when trying to learn about a new type of health or medical concern. Clear, concise, and written in layman's terms, NIH always helped with gaining greater understanding of medical science as it applied to her job as a CSI.

After comforting herself that she was not likely to die of hemorrhagic fever, at least not at this time, she checked her Facebook, and Twitter accounts to see if anything was going on outside of Vegas. She was inundated by private messages asking if she was ok? Apparently, the investigation had made the news. Great.

She created a template for a message to reply to everyone. "All is fine here in Vegas. Thanks for your concerns, but just waiting clearance from the Doctors and will be back to normal. All the best. Sara." She responded to all of her messages. She then turned to email, dreading what she knew was next.

An email from Betty Grissom.

"Dearest Sara, I heard of the commotion at your crime scene and wanted you to know that I was thinking all of the best thoughts for you. Please keep me in the loop as to your progress and when you will be released. If you need anything at all, I will be there as quick as you can call me. Much Love. Mother"

Betty. She had been a rock. Through all of the last year, Sara had found Betty to be a staunch ally. Considering they had such a rough start, she counted herself very lucky to have someone as good and kind as Betty Grissom in her life.

She thought long and hard before she began typing.

"Betty. Thanks for worrying about me. Yes, I am fine and we are just waiting for the Doctors to clear us."

She hit backspace and started again. Betty could read through her lies and would not tolerate anything other than the truth.

"Betty. Thanks for worrying about me. As of right now, Greg and I are fine. The Doctors have not yet determined whether the disease is contagious or not, so we will remain in quarantine until they are sure we won't pose a risk to ourselves or anyone else. I will absolutely keep you apprised of the situation. Love, Sara."

She read the email three or four times before hitting send.

Since the separation and the funeral, Betty had been her rock. She hoped that she had been as much help to Betty, but she was sure that through it all, Betty had the better grip on reality. Sara had begun to understand that people who were deaf heard a lot more than most hearing people.

She closed the laptop and looked at Greg. Sleeping peacefully. She remembered when she could sleep so easily. But now, it took a trazadone or a couple shots of bourbon to get to sleep. Weighing the options, she decided to buzz for a nurse. She knew she needed sleep, especially if she had been exposed to a serious viral infection, she would need to be at her best, physically and mentally, to fight the disease.

"Yes Ms Sidle?" the kind voice said from the other side of the glass observation window.

"Hi Nurse Chris," Sara said, clearing her dry throat a little, "I would like to know if I can have some sleeping pills. I take trazadone at home. I'm really having trouble falling asleep."

"Perfectly understandable," the young nurse responded, "I'll check with Dr. Hinton and find out if that will be acceptable with the other medications. I'll do it for you right now!"

She shut off the speaker, turned her back to Sara, and made a call to the Doctor in charge of Greg and Sara's care.

Turning around, she opened the line between them back up and said "Sara, I'm going to go get it for you right now, and I will be back in less than 5 minutes. Nurse Kendall is right here if you need anything."

"Awesome," Sara replied, "Thanks and if you can find a bottle of Merlot somewhere along the way….."

Nurse Chris laughed at what she thought was a joke by her patient. Sara, in response, gave Chris a Sidle grin and then went back to her computer.

A glass of wine, a bottle of beer, a shot of whiskey… really any of those… would help her. But for now, she had to be still with her thoughts.

And at this moment in time, those thoughts were not good company.

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So, what exactly did TPTB leave out of the story? Reviews make the next chapters come more quickly! Send it!


	2. Chapter 2

Take the Long Way Home

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_I don't own CSI but I do love to play with them! It's the sincerest form of flattery!_

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_Why is Sara sad? Well, this may be a bumpy ride folks, but I promise, it will pay off if you stick with me. Things are NOT always as they appear! _

**CHAPTER 2**

Greg woke up before Sara. He looked over, half expecting her to be up and pacing the floor between them. She looked almost peaceful. That made him feel happy. He hadn't seen her peaceful or content in quite some time.

Greg had been friends with Sara since he was a lab rat and she was the object of his affection. Once she made it clear her heart was already spoken for, Sara became one of the best friends Greg had ever made. He loved her dearly, as though she was the sister he had never had.

That made it even harder on him to watch her fall into despair. He felt her become more and more removed from life and less likely to want to share what was going on with him. He told her repeatedly that he was there for her. She always replied with "Thanks Greg, but I'm fine."

I'm Fine.

Sidle-speak for I'm really not ok, but I don't want to talk to you about it.

He had heard her say the same thing to Nick, to Morgan and more importantly, to Grissom back when Greg was the only one who knew Sara and Gil were dating.

But that was all before the separation. Grissom had been home a couple times after Sara moved back to Vegas. He was home for a couple months and then, when his employer called, he was back on some grand adventure in the jungle. Greg had done everything he could to support his friend, but at some point, he had to be honest and point out to Sara that she was living her life with a man who never seemed to be there for her.

And when Gil died, he was there to hold her hand and help her through the hardest time of her life.

It had been a really hard time for the team. Sara had been framed for a murder and, although the week had been trauma for her, it was even harder for her to not hear from Grissom.

Sitting quietly and alone, watching her sleep, he tried desperately to push the thoughts from his mind. But in a hospital isolation suite, there was nowhere to hide from the memories.

It seemed to start with Sara announcing that she had a date.

"I can't go to Franks's for breakfast today, guys," she said to Nick and Greg as their shift ended. Greg gave her a puzzled look.

"Don't look at me that way, Greg," she demanded. "He told me to go on with my life, I'm going on."

"Sara," he responded, "You and I both know he didn't mean it."

"Yes," she almost yelled, "I'm done waiting for him."

"I know," he consoled her, "But you still love him."

"Greg," she said, this time in a much more serious, almost sad voice, "I will always love him Greg, but I can't live my life this way."

And when she started dating other men, he began to worry that she had gone too far in the other direction.

The evening of her birthday was the worst day yet.

Sara had a date with her "friend" Taylor who she had been seeing for about a month. However, after Taylor ended up dead in their shared hotel room, Sara was immediately placed under investigation for his murder. No one at the shop believed that she was guilty, but her lapse in memory was a concern.

Greg and Nick both knew about Sara's history with alcohol. They knew that the memory lapses were a tell-tale sign of alcohol abuse. They tried to speak to her about it, but she gave them the same old Sara answer.

"I'm fine."

But they both knew that she wasn't fine at all.

They knew that Grissom has not called through this whole fiasco. Not a word of support, no concern for her well-being, no mention of the serial killer who had tried to make that birthday her last.

Not to mention, no birthday card.

So when DB Russell approached them and asked how long Sara had been separated from her husband, they could honestly say they didn't know. But they guessed it had been at least three or four months officially.

DB, the new boss at the lab, had been concerned about Sara. He reached out to Greg to get some context on Sara's background. DB, not aware of the drinking problem that was beginning to rear its head, was concerned that Sara's separation from her husband was causing her to become a bit reckless about her own safety. After a conversation with Ecklie, DB began to understand that Sara did have a reckless side but it had dissipated as she matured, especially after being kidnapped and almost dying and then again after marrying Grissom. While Ecklie felt DB's fears were not grounded, he referred DB to Greg for more information.

DB was a great judge of character. He was the kind of person who thought everything through before action. He felt that understanding what was going on in Sara's life would help him keep her safe.

Greg, knowing that DB was sincere in his intent to help Sara, was willing to provide some information. He told DB that for personal information, he would have to speak to Sara, but he would share anything that was already public knowledge.

He gave DB a short history of Sara Sidle. He left out the parts about the drinking and anything that happened prior to her joining the team in Las Vegas. The story of her mother killing her father was known to her friends, but didn't need to be shared with anyone else. That past needed to stay where it was.

He did mention Sara's mother in the Assisted Living Center in town, but that was all he said. He also gave a shortened version of the Gil and Sara romance that lead up to Sara's kidnapping and her almost dying in the desert.

DB shook his head. He had no idea how hard Sara's life had been and felt that he was truly able to be there for her as a friend and a boss.

"You are a good friend, Greg," DB said, patting Greg's arm, "Let me know what I can do to help keep her safe."

Only days later, just after Basderic had been captured inside Sara's home, DB called Nick and Greg to his office to ask again for their help.

"Gil Grissom has been killed in Costa Rica." There was no easy way to say it. He knew Greg and Nick idolized their previous boss and mentor. But he also knew that Greg and Nick would be the right people to help Sara through what was likely to be a very emotional day for her.

It took a moment for the news to sink in. Nick welled up with tears that he could not stop from running down his face. Greg put his arm around his friend.

After they had time to let the news process, DB looked at them and said "Guys, I know you are upset right now, but I need you to help me. I'm going to have to break the news to Sara and she's going to need your support."

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**Remember – things are NEVER as they appear. **

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End file.
